THE FLIP SIDE

Two women share very different experiences of working in Zante…

Amber* worked as a club rep in Zante from 2010 to 2012

“There’s definitely a ‘sex sells’ culture. My main job was to throw myself at men and get them into the clubs – our uniform was hot pants and a bandeau top. You can’t be sensitive. It was completely normal for your boss to grab your arse. Zante’s like

Geordie Shore on acid. Everyone had banging tallies and I’d say the girls gave the boys a run for their money. It felt empowering. I was sexually assaulted as a teenager and developing a more relaxed attitude to sex helped me a lot. But I did worry that young female tourists didn’t know what they were getting themselves into with the workers. If anything can change the behaviour on the island, it’s the threat of ending up on social media. What happens in Zante no longer stays in Zante.”

Rebecca* worked in Zante as a bar promoter in 2018

“On my first day, I was told by my manager that I was ‘pretty but not “wow”’. The entire culture was based on sex, and how I looked. I hated it. At another bar, the boss said I could kiss guys to get them to come in, and it was heavily implied that that’s what I should have been doing. One time, I pulled a guy and all his friends came in while we were having sex and started chanting. I had to throw a towel over myself and run out, naked, in front of them. I was really upset. If you ever called any of them out on it they’d just say you were uptight. #MeToo hasn’t had any impact. Guys who might have been nice at home adopt completely different morals out there. They called women ‘slags’ and guys ‘top shaggers’. I left after three weeks.”